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Paul Jennings Hill
|death place=Florida State Prison, Starke, Florida, United States |job=Minister |pathology=Unclassified killer Assassin Homegrown Terrorist |signature= |mo=Shooting |type= |victims=2 killed 1 attempted |time=July 29, 1994 |charges= |sentence=Death |capture=July 29, 1994 |status=Deceased }} Paul Jennings Hill was an American homegrown terrorist who assassinated abortion doctor John Britton. Background Hill was born on February 6, 1954 in Miami, Florida, and raised in Coral Gables. When he was seventeen years old, he was charged with assault by his father after the latter attempted to get treatment for his son's drug addiction. In 1973, after being sent to a military school, he converted to Christianity. Hill later enrolled in Belhaven University; it was there that he met his future wife, Karen Demuth. The two would go on to have three children. Hill graduated from Reformed Theological Seminary, having studied under Greg Bahnsen, the founder of the right-wing "Christian reconstructionism" movement. He attended St. Paul Presbyterian Church, which supported theonomy. After being ordinated in 1984, Hill became a minister affiliated with both the Presbyterian Church in America and the Orthodox Presbyterian Church. However, in 1993, he was excommunicated due to advocating for anti-abortion violence and claiming a connection to the Army of God. Sometime before the killings, Hill sent two position papers to reconstructionist author Gary North. Said papers detailed the defrocked minister's views on abortion and why violence against abortionists should be justified. North would not reply until October 1994. He criticized Hill's arguments and stated that he was violating God's laws by promoting violence. Killings, Capture, and Execution The Ladies Center (later known as American Family Planning), located in Pensacola, Florida, was the abortion clinic where John Britton worked at. He was an abortionist who regarded anti-abortion protesters as fanatics. Due to harassment and death threats, he wore a homemade bulletproof vest, carried a .357 Magnum, and hired clinic escorts. On July 29, 1994, Hill approached the abortion clinic and spotted Britton with a bodyguard named James Barrett. Barrett's wife, June, was also present. He shot Britton and Barrett with a shotgun, killing them. June was injured in the process. After shooting them, he placed his weapon on the ground and waited for police to arrive. Hill would later state that he suspected Britton had been wearing a bulletproof vest, so he aimed for the head. Hill was arrested and brought to trial in the Circuit Court of Florida for the First Circuit. He was charged with two counts of murder, one count of attempted murder, and one count of shooting into an occupied vehicle. Representing himself, Hill pleaded not guilty to all the charges. He argued that his actions were defensive and not done out of retribution. On December 6, 1994, Hill was found guilty on all charges and sentenced to death. For the next three years, there were appeals, but all were unsuccessful. In July 2003, Jeb Bush, the Governor of Florida at the time, signed the execution warrant. During the last week of his life, Hill chose Reverend Donald Spitz as his spiritual adviser; the two had been close friends before and after the killings. Hill's stance on abortion never changed. He said he did not regret his actions and that he expected to be rewarded in heaven. He also wrote a manifesto entitled Mix My Blood with the Blood of the Unborn, which his backers promised to publish. On September 3, 2003, after spending almost a decade on death row, Hill was executed by lethal injection. Before he died, he encouraged people to fight against abortion. Modus Operandi TBA Profile TBA Known Victims * July 29, 1994, Pensacola, Florida: ** John Britton, 69 ** James Barrett, 74 ** June Barrett, 68 On Criminal Minds TBA Sources * Wikipedia's article about Hill * Murderpedia's article about Hill * [http://www.armyofgod.com/PaulHillMixMyBloodPDF.pdf Mix My Blood with the Blood of the Unborn] Category:Stubs Category:Real People Category:Real Life Assassins Category:Real World Criminals Category:Real Life Killers Category:Deceased Real World Criminals Category:Unreferenced Criminals Category:Incarcerated Real World Criminals Category:Executed Real World Criminals Category:Real Life Terrorists Category:Candidates for deletion